Skip to main content

City of Buellton · Statewide General Election

Buellton City Council, District 1

This is one contest. Enter your address to see every race on your November ballot, and keep track of your picks.

On the ballot

This person would represent one of Buellton's four council districts on the city's five-member City Council -- the citywide budget, land use, and oversight of city staff for this Santa Barbara County city of 5,161 residents (2020 Census), alongside a directly elected Mayor who is not part of this race. Buellton moved from at-large to district council elections in 2022; this seat serves a four-year term.

Two candidates are running for the open Buellton City Council District 1 seat: Mark Williams and Billy Silvola. Vote for one -- no primary.

Buellton's City Council districts were created in 2022, replacing at-large elections. District 1 elects one member to a four-year term on the city's five-member Council -- four district seats plus a directly elected, citywide Mayor who is not part of this race. Incumbent Hudson Hornick is not seeking re-election, leaving this an open seat.

With no incumbent in the race, both candidates are first-time officeholders. This dataset found comparatively little independently verifiable information on either candidate this pass -- see each profile below for what could and could not be confirmed.

Mark Williams

Mark Williams is a first-time candidate for Buellton City Council, running for the open District 1 seat. This dataset found no campaign website, filed candidate statement, campaign-finance filing, or independent news coverage describing his occupation or platform this pass; the city's own election materials list only his name, address, and contact information.

Strengths

None independently confirmed by this pass beyond his filed candidacy and the contact information on the city's own Notice of Nominees and Candidate Contact Data sheet.

Trade-offs

Of the two District 1 candidates, no campaign-finance filing at all was found under his name with the city clerk, unlike Silvola's initial committee filing.

Keep in mind

This is a documented sourcing gap, not a claim that he lacks a platform -- no independently verifiable description was reachable this pass, including from a California Secretary of State Cal-Access search.

Billy Silvola

Billy Silvola is a first-time candidate for Buellton City Council, running for the open District 1 seat. He filed an initial campaign-committee Statement of Organization with the city clerk on August 31, 2026 ("Billy Silvola for Buellton City Council 2026"), marked not yet qualified for full itemized disclosure. This dataset found no campaign website, filed candidate statement, or independent news coverage describing his occupation or platform this pass.

Strengths

A campaign committee filed with the city clerk on August 31, 2026, unlike Williams -- though it had not yet crossed the disclosure threshold as of that filing.

Trade-offs

No campaign website, filed statement, or independent news coverage was found this pass describing his occupation or platform beyond that committee filing.

Keep in mind

This is a documented sourcing gap, not a claim that he lacks a platform -- no independently verifiable description was reachable this pass beyond his committee's own existence.

Source review: Very strong (91/100) · 7 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

  • cityofbuellton.com (opens in a new tab)City of Buellton -- "2026 General Election" page: names the three offices up (Mayor -- full two-year term, one seat; City Council District 1 and District 4 -- four-year terms, one seat each), the nomination filing period, and links the Notice of Nominees, Candidate Contact Data sheet, and each qualifying candidate's own filed campaign statements. States plainly that only three of the five candidates (Mead, Silva, Silvola) submitted a campaign statement to the city
  • cityofbuellton.com (opens in a new tab)City of Buellton -- "Notice of Nominees for Public Office," the city clerk's own ballot-instruction document for the November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election: Mayor (vote for no more than one) -- Dave King, David Silva; Council Member District 1 (vote for no more than one) -- Mark Williams, Billy Silvola; Council Member District 4 (vote for no more than one) -- Carla Mead alone. A name appearing on this document confirms placement before voters on the ballot, not a Section 10229 appointment
  • cityofbuellton.com (opens in a new tab)City of Buellton -- "Buellton Candidate Contact Data," November 3, 2026 General Election: independently lists the identical five names under the identical three offices as the Notice of Nominees, with each candidate's mailing address, phone, and email -- no ballot designations are printed on this document
  • cityofbuellton.com (opens in a new tab)City of Buellton -- "City Council" page: names the sitting five-member Council -- David Silva (Mayor, "Elected: November 5, 2024"), Carla Mead (Vice Mayor, District 4), Hudson Hornick (District 1), Elysia Lewis (District 2), John Sanchez (District 3) -- confirming Silva and Mead as the incumbents in their 2026 races and that District 1 incumbent Hornick is not among the two 2026 District 1 candidates (an open seat)
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia -- "Buellton, California": used narrowly for the 2020 Census population (5,161), confirmation that the City Council moved from at-large to four single-member districts in 2022 (roughly 1,290 residents each), and that the Mayor is directly elected citywide to a two-year term rather than chosen by the Council -- does not cover the 2026 election
  • cityofbuellton.com (opens in a new tab)City of Buellton City Clerk -- Billy Silvola's initial FPPC Form 410 Statement of Organization for "Billy Silvola for Buellton City Council 2026," filed August 31, 2026 (filed with the city clerk, hosted on the city's own site): marked "Not yet qualified" -- his committee had not yet crossed the disclosure threshold that triggers an itemized Form 460 as of this filing
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- direct filer searches for "Dave King" and "Mark Williams" each returned a blank result page, no committee or candidate filer registered under either name. Cal-Access's own Power Search home page states its data covers state-level campaign finance and excludes local government filings in any case, so Buellton's own City Clerk filings (see buellton-silva460-2026, buellton-silvola410-2026, buellton-mead497-2026) are the only possible source for a local candidate's disclosure

Last updated September 1, 2026.